Dare to be Punk

"Maggie, You ****"

28mm

Twenty five quid to live on
Seven days a week to survive
Five and twenty pictures of the queen
You won't see the starvation in her eyes
Twenty five quid to dish out
And you're already ten in debt
So with fifteen singles left over
The landlord gets the rent

Maggie, Maggie you c*** Maggie, Maggie you c*** Maggie
Maggie you c*** Maggie Maggie Maggie Maggie you fucking c***

- The Exploited, "Maggie" 

This is my entry for the Instagram "Punk Dare" contest run by Dark Elf Erin.  I envisioned a Britain where the Falklands war dragged on, depressing the economy to desperate lengths, and where the 1984 attack by the IRA succeeded in wiping out most of the British Cabinet.  In response, Margaret Thatcher institutes emergency measures and turns Britain into a real police state.  But some people still resist...

 I tried to load this figure up with old-school punk style: red Royal Stewart plaid, ripped fishnets, and a bold mohawk... contrasted with the totalitarian propaganda posters plastered over old punk material on the wall behind her (and already torn down and defaced).

I also decorated the back of the piece, with some fun old punk show posters:

Check out all the superb contest entries here: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/punkdareentry/

Graveyard Watcher

"Angel of Death" Statue

28mm scale

Not a ghost bloodied country
All covered with sleep
Where the black angel did weep

A deserted churchyard... neglected, moldering headstones and blowing leaves.  And a tall, masked figure, its wings spread ominously behind the scythe looming in its grip.  "Just a statue", you say... "Just the moonlight", you say...

This was my utterly non-seasonal pre-holiday project from a few weeks ago.  It's a really old Ral Partha figure, dating back to 1979 and sculpted by the legendary Tom Meier!  It was part of RP's original extensive and characterful lineup.

 

I threw together a few old graves with mossy headstones to go with it, they should make good scenery for some ghoulish character at some point.

Timey Wimey Stuff

The Tenth Doctor

28mm

"Okay, that’s scary."
"You’re scared of a broken clock?"
"Just a bit scared, yeah. Just a little tiny bit. ‘Cause you see, if this clock’s broken—and it’s the only clock in the room…" tick tick tick "Then what’s that? "

 

I've had this great, but sadly OOP, Heresy model of the Tenth Doctor for a while... and recently I heard that David Tennant was returning to play the Fourteenth Doctor.  So, the perfect time to paint this!

With this finished, that leaves only one Doctor model in my unpainted collection... the First.  And his young "granddaughter" Susan, both Black Tree Designs models I bought ages ago.  Maybe I'll paint those up sooner rather than later.  I unfortunately don't have the Second, Sixth-Eighth, or a few of the modern ones.  Good thing I'm not a completist ;)

Afterlife Guardian

The Protector of Souls

28mm

"YOU HAVE ARRIVED, SOUL. THERE IS NO GOING BACK...
FOLLOW ME. AND I BEG YOU, DO NOT STRAY FROM THE PATH."

This is a great Reaper figure that is, unfortunately, out of production.  I started painting it a long time ago, but after base coating I never finished it.  I'm glad I dug it out of the vault, because now I remember why I really liked it in the first place.  Sinister but not openly aggressive, and that cloak is amazing!  (It was a lot of work to paint, admittedly)

Is there Life on Mars

Lord Izlyr and Sssorg, Ice Warriors

28mm

Oh why, oh, why should love ever come
To couples, like you and me
Whose cold, cold wars are never done

The Martian "Ice Warriors" were second tier villains in Doctor Who starting with the Second Doctor.  Their first appearance was in a serial where Earth scientists thawed them from beneath glacier ice and they sought to conquer the planet.  

I first saw them in the 1972 Third Doctor serial "The Curse of Peladon", which these figures are inspired by.  Alien delegates (quickly joined by the Doctor and his companion Jo Grant) are meeting on the planet Peladon to decide whether to admit it to the Galactic Federation.  When the Peladon High Priest uses a hidden monster to attack the delegates and prevent the admittance, the Doctor and his companion are suspected of murder.  But the Martian delegate Lord Izlyr defends them, telling the Doctor that his people have embraced peace.  Along with his underling Ssorg, he helps the Doctor reveal the murderous plot.

The Ice Warriors returned more recently for two episodes, "Cold War" and "Empress of Mars" featuring the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors.

These figures, from Black Tree Design, sat half-painted in my lead pile for a good fifteen years until I decided to finish them off last weekend.  As they say, it's never too late to do the right thing 😄

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!"

"But if she's the Earth representative, then who are YOU?"
"Gosh, look at the time!  Gotta go!"

Early Men and the Mother of All

The Mother Goddess and her Guardians

28mm scale

A goddess on a mountain top
Was burning like a silver flame
The summit of beauty and love
And Venus was her name 

 

The ancestors had carved the tribe's idol of the Mother-Goddess Lah with awe-inspiring skill.   From her womb had sprung the moon and sun, the world, all the animals, and finally, the People.  To their protector and creator they bring offerings, in the hopes of good hunting, good health, and safety in a world full of daily perils.

Today, Bergar the Elder and Vorlu the Fire Holder guard the idol
and its sacred grove from desecration by outsiders

The Goddess is a Reaper Bones model, the Neolithics are from Pulp Figures... a very deep dive into my lead pile!  These were passed on to me in 2002 by Bob Murch, when I worked with his wife.

"Thag no!  Is not good idea!"

Another Orctober Surprise

Bad Moon Boyz

15mm

The wealthiest and most ostentatious of the Ork klanz, the Bad Moons are idle, venal Orks with a reputation for showing off and using their wealth and status like a club to bludgeon other, less fortunate Orks into line.

Some CP Miniatures space orks, painted up as Bad Moonz from Warhammer 40,000.  Goofy little guys, but still definitely dangerous...